Beyond belief
I can't say that I 'believe' that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And this isn't just a lead-in to claiming to 'know'.
A rather unorthodox statement, I know. But then again, there is perhaps too much emphasis on orthodoxy in modern Christian expression, to the detriment of other important parts of necessary human spirituality.
Orthodoxy means right belief (from Greek ὀρθός, orthos ("right", "true", "straight") and δόξα, doxa ("opinion" or "belief" - thank you wikipedia)). In Christianity, this has always been a pretty important thing. Judaism, on the other hand, was more concerned with orthopraxy - right practice. Think kosher food rules, sabbth-keeping requirements, the mitzvot.
Some Christians do have a much stronger link between their faith and their way of life than others. Some Christians hold very strongly to not living together or engaging in sex before they are married. Others refuse to use birth control. It is normal for our beliefs to shape the way we live in the world. And yet, for these Christians, it is right belief that results in naturally right action.
It makes sense. And yet it is not the sense of orthopraxy that has been most powerful for me.
When belief has to come first, it is easy to look at ideas and dismiss them as ridiculous (impossible to believe) or irrelevant (needless to believe). And this is so often what Christians today are asking people to do. We ask people to believe certain things, and are surprised when the answer is "no". Perhaps this is where a bit of the orthopraxy of our religious forefathers would be helpful. And I don't mean encourage people to practice abstinence, or to boycott birth control. I mean much simpler things, things that don't even require faith (just look at The Monastery and The Big Silence and Walking the Camino). I mean things such as sitting in silence for 10 minutes in the morning, and 10 minutes in the evening, of living in community with other people of good will for an extended time, of sharing regularly with a mentor, living simply, and of experiencing going on retreat, and of going on pilgrimage. And, for a more specifically Christian-orientation, in reading and reflecting on the Bible each day (perhaps with a good guide - some of that stuff is tricky), in attending common prayers, and (for an especially contested one that I have recently discovered to be very helpful) in making your confession (through a priest, your mentor, or directly to God, according to your tradition and your will).
I think if someone were to commit to these practices with an open mind, they would find something. Perhaps not that 'Jesus Christ is the son of God', but something. And that experience would be far more convincing than any verbal proselytising. And once there is an experience of the more, of the mystery, and of the connection that has to us, then we become more ready to sit with the difficult 'beliefs'. And if we continue with these practices, we may even come to understand things that are impossible to explain, and impossible to believe without knowing them first in your heart.
This, in any case, has been my experience. Before I experienced silence, community life, spiritual accompaniment, retreat, and pilgrimage, or Biblical reflection (with the help of someone wiser than myself), common prayer and personal confession, I was trying to believe, I even thought I believed, enough anyway. But since living with these practices, I believe things in my heart that my head still can't begin to comprehend. I have fully comprehended, in a transcendent moment, that we really are the body of Christ, but my mind would never have understood that. The mind is too literal. Even a metaphor is too literal a way to approach such a thing. It is only if we have tasted some of these experiences that exist beyond the limits of words that we can ever come to these words with enough openness to be pervaded by them and not try to capture them.
And so I would not say I 'believe' Jesus Christ is the son of God, because honestly, I have no idea what that even means. My mind is not big enough or strong enough to take those words and craft for them a concept that is believable. So I don't try. I just sit with those words, and ponder them, and let them transform me if they will, when the time comes that I might experience what they truly mean.
That is the joy of following the faith of the Living Word. It cannot be possessed, only encountered.
A rather unorthodox statement, I know. But then again, there is perhaps too much emphasis on orthodoxy in modern Christian expression, to the detriment of other important parts of necessary human spirituality.
Orthodoxy means right belief (from Greek ὀρθός, orthos ("right", "true", "straight") and δόξα, doxa ("opinion" or "belief" - thank you wikipedia)). In Christianity, this has always been a pretty important thing. Judaism, on the other hand, was more concerned with orthopraxy - right practice. Think kosher food rules, sabbth-keeping requirements, the mitzvot.
Some Christians do have a much stronger link between their faith and their way of life than others. Some Christians hold very strongly to not living together or engaging in sex before they are married. Others refuse to use birth control. It is normal for our beliefs to shape the way we live in the world. And yet, for these Christians, it is right belief that results in naturally right action.
It makes sense. And yet it is not the sense of orthopraxy that has been most powerful for me.
When belief has to come first, it is easy to look at ideas and dismiss them as ridiculous (impossible to believe) or irrelevant (needless to believe). And this is so often what Christians today are asking people to do. We ask people to believe certain things, and are surprised when the answer is "no". Perhaps this is where a bit of the orthopraxy of our religious forefathers would be helpful. And I don't mean encourage people to practice abstinence, or to boycott birth control. I mean much simpler things, things that don't even require faith (just look at The Monastery and The Big Silence and Walking the Camino). I mean things such as sitting in silence for 10 minutes in the morning, and 10 minutes in the evening, of living in community with other people of good will for an extended time, of sharing regularly with a mentor, living simply, and of experiencing going on retreat, and of going on pilgrimage. And, for a more specifically Christian-orientation, in reading and reflecting on the Bible each day (perhaps with a good guide - some of that stuff is tricky), in attending common prayers, and (for an especially contested one that I have recently discovered to be very helpful) in making your confession (through a priest, your mentor, or directly to God, according to your tradition and your will).
I think if someone were to commit to these practices with an open mind, they would find something. Perhaps not that 'Jesus Christ is the son of God', but something. And that experience would be far more convincing than any verbal proselytising. And once there is an experience of the more, of the mystery, and of the connection that has to us, then we become more ready to sit with the difficult 'beliefs'. And if we continue with these practices, we may even come to understand things that are impossible to explain, and impossible to believe without knowing them first in your heart.
This, in any case, has been my experience. Before I experienced silence, community life, spiritual accompaniment, retreat, and pilgrimage, or Biblical reflection (with the help of someone wiser than myself), common prayer and personal confession, I was trying to believe, I even thought I believed, enough anyway. But since living with these practices, I believe things in my heart that my head still can't begin to comprehend. I have fully comprehended, in a transcendent moment, that we really are the body of Christ, but my mind would never have understood that. The mind is too literal. Even a metaphor is too literal a way to approach such a thing. It is only if we have tasted some of these experiences that exist beyond the limits of words that we can ever come to these words with enough openness to be pervaded by them and not try to capture them.
And so I would not say I 'believe' Jesus Christ is the son of God, because honestly, I have no idea what that even means. My mind is not big enough or strong enough to take those words and craft for them a concept that is believable. So I don't try. I just sit with those words, and ponder them, and let them transform me if they will, when the time comes that I might experience what they truly mean.
That is the joy of following the faith of the Living Word. It cannot be possessed, only encountered.